


First Steps on a New Path

by Ebhenah



Series: Games of Shance Stories [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: M/M, New Altea, New Beginnings, Post-Canon, shance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-02
Updated: 2019-03-02
Packaged: 2019-11-08 00:13:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,770
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17970755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ebhenah/pseuds/Ebhenah
Summary: Both Lance and Shiro find themselves Coran's houseguests for a few days following the annual reunion and Lance offers to share in the tour guide duties. It's been years. He's an adult now. A grown man. Surely he can spend some one on one time with Shiro after all this time without stirring up that embarrassing old crush. Right? Sure. Definitely. No problem.





	First Steps on a New Path

**Author's Note:**

  * For [EggheadJade](https://archiveofourown.org/users/EggheadJade/gifts).



> Written as a gift for EggheadJade in the Games of Shance Discord Server for the February 2019 game.

Lance gave a final wave as Pidge’s shuttle lifted off. Hunk and Keith had left New Altea hours ago; they were both so busy lately with work. Pidge had been able to linger a little longer, her work was less impacted by other people’s schedules, but she still had deadlines. So, they’d made plans for a pool night sometime soon and parted ways. That left him and Shiro for Coran to host. Lance had promised the boisterous man his help with… something to do with crops. He was no expert, but he suspected that Coran was more interested in the company than any opinion he might have, anyway. He did this every couple of years- ask Lance to stick around for some task or another, when really he just wanted someone to walk down memory lane with. Lance didn’t mind. It was nice, actually. He enjoyed hearing Coran’s stories about Allura’s childhood and her parents. Shiro, on the other hand, was taking a rare, and well deserved few days off. Lance had promised to show him around New Altea- of all of them, he was the former Paladin who had spent the most time here, after all. 

Pidge’s ship disappeared from view and he headed back to the statue, and took some time to himself, just talking to the memorial as if it was Allura. Time had eased the pain of her loss, and while he missed her and part of him would always love her, he no longer felt like she’d taken part of him with her when she… He just missed her now, the way he missed any of his loved ones. It helped to remember that she was everywhere, not really GONE, just not… quite HERE. He sat on the grass and filled her in on all the family gossip- Veronica’s upcoming wedding; Rachel’s new baby, Sergio; Sylvio’s award winning science fair project (that he DEFINITELY got help from Pidge with); Marco’s new house- until Shiro approached.

“Am I interrupting?” Shiro asked quietly, gesturing to the statue.

“Nah,” Lance laughed, patting the grass beside him in invitation, “I talk to her all the time.”

“I do, too, actually,” Shiro said, taking a seat. He pushed his hand through his silver hair and smiled softly- looking like some kind of movie star the whole time. After all this time, you’d think he’d have gotten used to Shiro’s leading man good looks, but… nope. Still seemed almost too handsome to be real. “Somewhere along the way, I’ve gotten into the habit of talking through decisions like she is going to give me feedback.”

“Yeah, I do that, too- but I’m betting your decisions are more important than whether the blue tie or the red one looks better with my charcoal suit.”

Shiro laughed, “they seem so in the moment, yeah… and for the record. The blue. It makes your eyes pop.”

Lance turned to look at Shiro, blinking in surprise, because that answer was pretty darn quick. Had Shiro thought about that at all before answering? Or did he already have an opinion on which colors looked best on Lance? “Blue, huh? It’s funny, even after all this time, I think of red as Keith’s color. I mean, I still connect Pidge to green and Hunk to yellow, too. But I was Red Paladin longer than Keith was… funny how I never really think of red as ME.”

“Well, that God awful jacket of his reinforced the whole ‘red’ thing.”

“You mean his HALF jacket?” Lance snorted, shaking his head, “cropped jacket, leggings, and a mullet… it was… a LOOK that’s for sure.”

“That’s… one way to describe it,” Shiro chuckled, “I never really think of blue as being Allura’s color, either. She’s pink. You’re blue.”

“Well, yeah,” Lance countered with a cocky smirk and finger guns, “the blue makes my eyes pop.” He was rewarded with a deep laugh from Shiro and they feel into an easy, companionable conversation. Lance couldn’t remember the last time he and Shiro had just… hung out… without the others. He honestly wasn’t sure it had ever happened. Not with the ACTUAL Shiro. He’d spent a fair bit of time, one on one with who they’d THOUGHT was Shiro back during that whole mess. It wasn’t that they DISliked each other or anything. Just- Keith and Shiro had always been so close, and it was just so easy for any get together to include at least a few of the others. Turned out, they actually got along really well. Shiro was easy to talk to, especially now that enough time had passed since the Voltron days that Lance could look at him as a peer, an equal, instead of a role model or ‘leader’. 

They sat and talked until the sky started to shift in color from the setting sun, then they’d walked back to Coran’s residence together. The evening consisted of Coran breaking out a bottle of brandy and another of nunvill- which they both happily left for the Altean to drink- and the three of them sitting around in front of a fire in an honest-to-God library. They ran out of old stories about halfway through the bottle and switched to more general topics. At some point, somehow, they’d ended up telling riddles and trying to stump one another. Coran was abysmal- the riddles he knew were virtually impossible for either of the humans to decipher, and despite how much contact he had with Earth’s culture, he still lacked the context he needed to figure out the riddles Shiro and Lance told- but Shiro and Lance were pretty evenly matched and eventually had to call it a tie. That had led to trying to outdo each other with puns. It was really nice to be around people who understood the little victory a successful pun was for someone who had learned English as a second language. It was a mark of truly mastering a language- just like riddles were. 

Lance really had no idea how he made it to bed, but he woke up in the room Coran had made up for him, with a surprisingly mild hangover. He spent the morning going over some maps and soil quality reports with Coran and stressing the importance of rotating crops and keeping the agriculture diverse. Coran had been thrilled with their progress and insisted that Lance take the afternoon off to sightsee with Shiro. He’d provided an all-terrain vehicle, packed them a basket of snacks, and sent them on their way with a holographic map. 

They were at their third stop- a beach with pale green sand and waves of peach colored water- quietly sharing a bag of the Altean equivalent of potato chips when Shiro steered the conversation away from generic chit chat. “So,” he’d said, his voice sounding uncharacteristically tentative, “Veronica told me things fell apart with… uh… the guy you were seeing?”

“Daniel?” Lance asked, surprised, “wow- I didn’t realize that Veronica even knew about that. Yeah. It did. Not a big deal, really. We weren’t serious or anything.”

“I wasn’t aware that you were… dating,” Shiro said, picking a rounded pebble out of the minty sand and sending it skipping across the surface of the water. 

“Well… yeah,” he shrugged, “for a while now. I mean, it’s been five years since Allura… She wouldn’t want me to spend my whole life mourning her.”

“Yeah. That’s good.” He cringed, “yikes! Not good that it’s been five years without her… or that things fell apart… Please tell me you understood what I meant!”

“Shiro, relax!” He bumped his shoulder against Shiro’s arm, “of all people, I know YOU understand what it’s like. So, yeah, I got what you meant. Moving on is a good thing, it means I’m healing. Right?”

The older man relaxed, “exactly. I’m sorry that things didn’t work out with… Daniel.”

“Thanks, but it’s okay, really. He’s a good guy. I wish him the best. But… I don’t know, he never really GOT me, you know?” Lance sighed, “there’s only so many ways to try to explain the whole Voltron thing.”

“The ‘whole Voltron thing’? You mean the Lions?”

“No, I mean the team. He couldn’t wrap his head around why I’m so close to all of you, even now. He thought of it as a job, so you guys would be my coworkers… and it didn’t make sense to him that I’d cancel plans at the last minute because Keith’s evening opened up the night before he was going to head out on another mission; or I’d pack up and head to Pidge’s without notice when she screwed up and I figured out that she was using work to keep from sleeping; or I would come here with no warning and no idea when I’d be back. He took it as me rejecting him for someone I used to work with.”

“He’s an idiot.” Shiro sounded almost mad. 

“He’s really not,” Lance chuckled, “he just didn’t understand how tight that bond is.”

“That’s not what I meant, Lance.”

“No?”

“Not even close. You have… this incredibly big heart. You are so loyal and caring. All those things you mentioned? Pidge and Keith and whatnot? They showcase what an amazing guy you are. You dropped everything to be there for the people you cared about when they needed you. If he couldn’t figure out that that is a GOOD thing, that’s his loss.”

“Aww, that’s really sweet of you to say, Shiro. But… any of you would do the same.”

“I’m not so sure of that,” Shiro said after a moment, “I’d like to think that is true, and I know we would in a CRISIS… but I think you might be the only one of us who would spot the warning signs that early and rearrange your whole life to intervene before it became a crisis in the first place. I’ve always admired that about you.”

Lance felt like we was going to implode- Shiro ADMIRED something about him? Holy crow! “Uhhh, thanks?”

“I have… overlapping memories from Voltron. I remember things from when Black held my… essence? Soul? Some of those memories are from Black’s point of view. Others are from Keith’s. Through the bond he had with Black. But I remember everything the clone did, too. At least, the stuff he did on his own, anyway.” Shiro wasn’t looking at him anymore. He was using one finger to trace around a pebble in the sand in ever-increasing rings as he spoke. “I remember how kind and supportive and patient you were- even when you were obviously hurting, and even though he didn’t treat you very well. You deserved better. You still do.”

“Overlapping memories must be really disconcerting,” Lance said, not really knowing how to react to the rest of it.

“It was, at first. I’ve gotten kind of used to it now. Regardless, you’re a catch. That Daniel guy is an idiot.”

“A catch, huh?” he laughed, “taking that whole ‘Space Dad’ joke pretty seriously, aren’t you?”

Shiro rolled his eyes, “haven’t been called that in a while… doesn’t really fit anyway. I’ve never really thought of you as a kid. What’s next on the tour?”

He knew Shiro well enough to know that that meant they were moving on to other subjects. Which was okay, because much more of Shiro saying such nice things about him might resurrect the massive crush he’d had on him ‘back in the day’. “Umm… next up is… oh! The uphill river! You’ll like that.”

“Does it actually flow uphill?”

“Yeah,” he stood, brushing sand off his jeans and holding his hand out to Shiro to help him up. Shiro grasped it, his grip strong and sure, the simple contact sending a jolt of giddy attraction through Lance. Damn… the massive crush might not be as dead as he’d thought. He swallowed against his suddenly dry mouth and the butterflies that sprang to life, trying to act normal. “It’s umm… like a spring,, I guess? The pressure is just enough to push the water up the hill and over the edge.”

“Sounds cool.” Shiro levered himself up and let go of Lance’s hand. They packed up their stuff and climbed back into the ATV to check out the uphill river. The rest of the evening flew by and when they finally headed back Coran had set up some kind of Altean board game. 

The next day, Coran had cleared his schedule and took over tour guide duties. Lance stayed behind with promises of a home cooked meal waiting for them on their return. Once he was alone in the house, he made a video call to Hunk on the pretext of needing help with a couple of ingredient substitutions

Hunk played along for a while, but eventually, when Lance didn’t explain why he called for help with a recipe he knew how to adjust, he spoke up. “So… what's bugging you?”

“Hmmm?” Lance busied himself with grating cheese- a task that clearly required his undivided attention.

“Spit it out Lance,” he coaxed, “YOU called ME, so we both know you want to talk about whatever it is. So. Let’s talk.”

He sighed, now that he’d made the call, he was second-guessing himself. “It’s nothing. I’m pretty sure it’s nothing. Probably nothing.”

“Uh-huh.”

“It’s just… because I’m not used to hanging out with Shiro.”

“What is?”

“I dunno… he just said… some stuff. Stuff I wasn’t expecting.”

“Stuff. Got it.” Hunk sighed, “Lance? TALK.”

Lance drew in a breath and let it out in a rush, “okay, so first it was this comment about ties.”

“Ties?”

“Yeah,” he gave Hunk a rundown of the conversation, then the conversation at the beach. “So… yeah. It’s nothing, right? It’s the kind of stuff you say to me all the time. It just feels different because I don’t really hang out with Shiro, right?”

Hunk stayed quiet for several impossibly long moments. “I mean… MAYBE?” Hunk’s eyes drifted upwards and he rocked his head back and forth in little nods, the way he did when he was having an internal debate. “But… I am not completely sold on that. It sounds… Lance, it kind of sounds like… flirting? Like, suuuuper lowkey flirting, but yeah… and… You know, now that I’m thinking about it… he was kind of watching you a lot at dinner. Annnd you gave him the perfect explanation with the Space Dad comment… but instead of laughing, he said he never thought of you as a kid. Do you WANT it to be nothing?”

“Hunk, man… it’s SHIRO!” He flailed his arm, trying to convey… just… everything. “SHIRO!”

“That’s… really not an answer, Lance.”

He sighed, exasperated, “I’m not sure. On the one hand, the guy is WAY out of my league. But, on the other hand…” He sighed again, but this time it was decidedly dreamy, “he’s… like… he… you know how… He… ugh” 

“Wow, Lance is speechless. This is new. So, based on all THAT,” Hunk waved his hand at Lance, “disaster bi nonsense, I’m going to go with you DON’T want it to be nothing.”

“I don’t want to fool myself into thinking it is something when it is nothing, though.”

“Yeah. That would suck.”

“Hunnnnnk… what do I DO?!?”

“Don’t do anything, man. Just… be normal, but don’t shoot him down when he compliments you or whatever. If he’s into you, you’ll figure it out.”

Lance snickered nervously, the whole concept of Shiro being into HIM, of all people, was just so unreal. “Right. Cool. Cool cool. Cool cool cool cool.”

“You are a mess, dude. An absolute mess.”

“I knooooow,” he whined, dropping his head to the table. “I can’t help it! I had such a huge crush on him, remember?”

“Like I could forget that.”

“You used to tell me that there was no way anyone could live up to the bar I set with him. But… then we met him… and he totally did.”

“He’s a pretty awesome guy,” Hunk agreed, “but so are YOU. So, no more talk about him being out of your league, and no more stressing yourself out! Just be sensible and see what happens… but I gotta go man. I’ve got work to do. You good?”

“Yeah,” he nodded, “yeah, I’m good. Say hi to Shay and Romelle for me.”

“Will do, buddy.” The screen blinked out.

Lance got back to work on the meal, and did his very best not to over analyze every word he’d exchanged with Shiro. He reminded himself of Hunk’s advice so many times the words started to lose their meanings. 

He was a stammering, blushing, babbling MESS the rest of the night. The following day was no better. Shiro kept making comments that seemed like normal supportive friend stuff… but not quite… and nothing that was CLEARLY flirting. Lance couldn’t make heads or tails of it, but he followed Hunk’s advice and resisted the urge to brush it off, or contradict him when he said something sweet. Bit by bit, he started replying with sweet compliments of his own and often, he was rewarded with a smile. A smile he’d never seen from Shiro before. He couldn’t put his finger on HOW it was different from the smiles he’d seen before, but it was, without a doubt, different. 

He was surprised at how much he and Shiro had in common- starting with a love of classical music, and old, old broadway musicals, even their senses of humour were a lot more alike than he’d thought. They both did yoga. They both loved Lewis Carroll’s writing, although they disagreed on which of his poems was best. They both preferred card games to board games, were irritated by America’s refusal to call the right game ‘football’, and thought the summer Olympics were better than the Winter games. 

Shiro told him stories about Keith and talked about Adam. Lance talked about his family and fessed up to some of the hijinks he, Hunk, and Pidge had gotten away with in the Castle of Lions. He revealed that in the beginning, he kind of expected Shiro and Allura to get together. Shiro countered that he had expected Lance to end up with Keith- which floored Lance because… just… no. Keith was great and all, but… that would be exhausting and probably end very badly. Ultimately, they agreed that the whole ‘opposites attract’ thing worked great in stories, but not so much in real life.

The last night of Lance’s time on New Altea, Coran turned in early and he and Shiro spent the whole night in the library in front of the fire sitting sideways on the couch and talking about their childhoods. Shiro had grown up an only child in Japan, Lance the baby of five siblings in Cuba. They talked about the Culture Shock of attending the Galaxy Garrison and how they coped with homesickness. They talked about pets and friends and the meaning of life and all the deep, philosophical kinds of questions that showed up in late night conversations between old friends. The last thing Lance remembered was debating reincarnation and Shiro commenting that the fire was dying down, and the next thing he knew he was waking up, still sitting upright on the couch facing Shiro, who was out like a light at the opposite end of the couch.

He glanced at the time and grimaced. He needed to get packed and head out. He was needed back at the farm and it was his niece’s birthday, so he had to be back in time for the party. Reluctantly, he dragged himself off of the couch and headed back to his guest room. It didn’t take long to shower, brush his teeth and pack. He had stowed his bag on the ATV and was waiting on Coran to wrap up so he could drive Lance out to the small ship he’d arrived in when Shiro found him. 

Shiro had the imprint of the couch upholstery in his cheek and his silver hair was sticking out every which way. It was so different from Shiro’s typically neat appearance that it was downright adorable and he couldn’t help but grin at the cuteness. “Hey,” Shiro said, triggering a yawn, “you leaving?”

“Yeah, I have a birthday party to attend and the competition for best uncle is a stiff one. I will definitely lose my title if I miss it.”

Shiro nodded, “wish Nadia a happy birthday for me.”

“Will do. Last night was fun. I love weird thinky conversations like that. Can’t believe we conked out on the couch though.”

“Yeah- I haven’t done that in years.” He rubbed the back of his neck and shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “Listen… you want to get together sometime? Just us?”

“Just us?” Lance’s heart just… flat out stopped. He was going to die standing in Coran’s porch because an adorably sleepy Shiro had said the words ‘just us’ and given him an actual heart attack. “You mean… like.. A date?”

Shiro’s cheeks colored. Oh God! He was blushing! Shiro was BLUSHING! “Yeah… like a date. If… you don’t think that’s too weird…”

“No!” he blurted out, because he didn’t think it was TOO weird- but, maybe Shiro did, because he looked disappointed or- oh no.. he’d said no… dammit. “I mean… no, not too weird. I’d… really like that. A date, I mean. Oh God, I’m making a mess of this. Yes, Shiro, I’d like to get together with you. Just us. For a date. It’s not too weird. Better?”

He chuckled, smiling so big his eyes crinkled, which was UNFAIRLY charming and cute. “Okay, good. I’ll… uh… I guess I’ll call you when I get back to Earth?”

“Sounds good, yeah.” His own face was starting to actually hurt from his own massive smile.

“Lance!” Coran’s voice boomed as he came rushing up to them, “sorry about the delay, my boy! We’ll have you out to your ship in just a tick. Follow me, follow me!”

“Uh… so, I guess I’m leaving now,” he said awkwardly. “Bye Shiro. Talk to you soon.”

“Bye Lance,” he replied, “and… uh… you can call me Takashi. I’d really like it if you called me Takashi.”

He nearly swooned, “oh. Alright. I can do that.” He followed after Coran, turning back after a few steps just in time to see Shir-TAKASHI start to head back into the house. “Don’t forget to call me, Takashi!”

His whole face lit up, “I won’t. Promise.”


End file.
